This is a selection of my photos that i have taken while conducting research in the kalahari and the isle of rum. Next to some of the photos there is a brief description of the biology behind the picture.

pictures from the isle of rum

The study on the Isle of Rum red deer population has been going for over 40 years and has amassed over 1300 deer skulls

Female (hinde) and small male skulls are stored in fish boxes stacked in the laundry building at Kilmory

There is a large range in size between juvenile and adult deer skulls for both males and females

The work involved measuring the cranial capacity of skulls. We used glass beads to gauge their volume.

To get a proxy measure for the deer's size we measured the skull length

Antlered stag skulls are stored along the beams of the laundry

drongo pictures

Fork-tailed drongo landing after a failed foraging attempt

Fork-tailed drongo taking off on a flight to hawk insect prey

Pied Babbler Begging

I want more!

photo: Alex Thompson

Pied babblers have a prolonged period of post-fledging care. Youngsters remain dependent upon adults for food for upto 9 weeks post fledging.

Young fledgies

photo: Alex Thompson

Young fledglings are very bad at flying, and spend the majority of their time in the safety of trees. This means adults have to provision them in the trees.

Wing flap

Babbler Behaviours

Play

photo: Alex Thompson

Pied babblers regularly spend time playing. But often very young fledglings don't quite understand when others want to play. Babblers will often play 'chase' around the base of bushes or jump through the branches of trees.

Stop begging!

photo: Alex Thompson

Adults will repremand fledglings who beg too much. Fledglings will then beg less to the adults who have repremanded them.

Not alone

photo: Alex Thompson

Babblers are not the only inhabitants of the Kalahari and they have frequent and complex interactions with heterospecifics.

Aggression

photo: Alex Thompson

Competition between siblings can often be fierce, especially among females. Fights involve chasing, jumping on one another, pinning each other down and pecking.

Chorus

photo: Alex Thompson

Pied babblers are a territorial and very vocal bird. They regularly give group displays on their boarders. The birds may also use these displays for more than just boarder defense.

Allopreening

photo: Alex Thompson

Pied babblers are highly social and groups will often spend long periods of the day preening each other, especially after and encounter with a neighbouring group.

Cuckoo

Brood parasite

photo: Alex Thompson

The loud begs of fledgling cuckoos can often be too much for young adults to resist.

On the ground

photo: Alex Thompson

Fledgling cuckoos will even come to the ground to recieve food from terrestrially foraging adults